Up's and Downs

Well we have had a week of ups and downs. It started off about as bad as it can possibly get. I got super, super sick, like I thought I was just going to pass out and die! I don’t know what happened to me. On Monday I was fine all day until about bed time, I was reading the Bible and out of no where I got a little nauseous, so I decide to go to bed. Well I couldn’t, and didn’t sleep at all the whole night. I have said that many times before but this time, I really actually did not sleep. I kept thinking I was going to throw my brains up but it just kept not happening, not happening, so 7AM rolls around, and I call the Zone Leaders and tell them we can’t have District Meeting cuz I’m sick and haven’t slept yet...Finally at about 9AM I say a prayer, and man I tell ya, I can testify that God loves me. I have NO doubt that he was looking over me and knew that I needed to get back to health and so he helped me out. I fell asleep and slept till about 3 or 4PM then got up kind of, not being able to walk for more than 12 steps from the bathroom and back without feeling like I’m going to pass out, so I just laid around all day...But I was doing a bit better and not feeling as bad as I was, the next day was a little better, and I got some of my energy back which was good. But it wasn’t till about Friday that I felt 100 percent again. But thank goodness it wasn’t a whole week or longer thing eh?! Flip!

In the midst of me feeling like crawling in a 6 foot hole, we had some really good lessons! We also had a dinner appointment with Helio and Sonia. I tell ya, if I come back to Portugal someday, which I plan on....They are some people I need to bring something. They are the NICEST people I have EVER met. I can’t even believe it! They feed us GOOD food and then Sonia just empties out their whole kitchen into a few sacks and makes us take it home! It is SO nice. She LITERALLY empties her kitchen. We are in the process of writing a Thank You note to them. She also gave us a pan! Ha ha, cuz well, we don’t have jack for cooking, so she helped us out a bit, very nice! They are a huge blessing to us here in Setubal.

We also had dinner with Bishop Santos´ family. They are also AMAZING. They are really nice and very fun! We played some magic games with them which was a blast! I did that "bang, bang, bang, click, click, who died" game. (Thanks Scotty) and they LOVED IT! NO ONE ever figured it out. And I didn’t tell. My comp got mad tho cuz he thinks he is all hot shot and knows everything so it was hilarious! On Saturday we had a lesson with Val again. It was great! We invited her to come to church again, telling her she has failed us not coming in the past. Then we compared going to church like first trying a food. I talked about how I thought I would NEVER ever try Sushi in my life! NEVER! But then I did and now its one of my FAVES! And well, hey she came to church! It was awesome, I was way happy to see her! I don’t know yet what she thought about it, we haven’t talked to her, but at least she came. A good start!

We had our lesson also with Iris again. She is studying also with the Jehovah Witness people, Urrgh. But don’t worry we slammed everything they had to say. Ha, ha, just playin, we did it all in a very nice way. But still let her know the TRUTH, and showed it to her, and proved it to her! We were with her for almost 2 hours and every minute was great cuz she is so into all we say and teach, it was just great!

So, that’s about our week! Pretty interesting I would say! And now, tonight here in a couple hours we are going to dinner with our investigators Manuel and Cristina! It is Christina’s B-day and they invited us to dinner with them!! How flipping cool are they!? I know! So I’m pretty stoked I tell ya! We are also going to some place to have a pizza buffet with Bishops family! Woop, Woop!! I hope you all have a great week and remember who you are!

I just finished reading the book My Heritage, and there was a part talking about remembering who you are, and I just loved it because my pops always said that, and he couldn’t be more right. We need to always keep that thought in mind. Who we are and why we are here and what it is we are DOING. What are YOU doing? What are YOU doing to bring others to Christ?? Hmmmm? The most important work in Missionary work is, the work, also it is the MEMBERS! So do your part. And remember to pray and stick close to your Heavenly Father! He is waiting to bestow his blessings upon each and every one of US! I LOVE YOU ALL and I hope you have a great week!
LOVE Elder Gray